How Much is My Business Worth?
It’s a question we get often and one we weigh carefully. Your business’s value is more than just a number. It’s the sum total of careful planning, hard work, and dedicated growth within your industry. When it comes to valuation, the team at Cummings Keegan listens to your story and looks at the full picture to give your business a comprehensive, objective, and accurate business valuation.
Launch, Grow, Evolve, Succeed
Our company’s motto for success is your roadmap to valuation. When determining how to value a business, the stage it is in is important. We consider how it launched, where it’s grown, when it evolved, and why it has succeeded. The net result is a complete picture of your business’s value and its potential for future growth.
You’re feeling success as a newer business owner and see opportunities ahead. This is the time to document the business story: “Why are you in this business and what are you going to do with it when you’re ready to move on?” Building your company story takes years of discipline, sacrifices and making hard decisions. Value-based decision-making will sometimes run at odds with immediate tax savings and after-tax current earnings. Spend a few hours with our Valuations experts to plan the framework for your story. Learn how you can build a company that has maximized its value, well before the formal valuation is needed.
Thinking about expanding your business? An initial valuation will guide you in making informed decisions about pricing, cost management and growth objectives. Understanding its current value can help determine the best starting point for your growth strategy. An accurate valuation will provide a benchmark to assess how much further you need to grow to meet your targets and identify areas for potential improvement. It also provides a baseline for measuring your business’s progress over time.
As your business is poised for transformation—whether it’s through a merger, acquisition or a new partnership—an updated valuation is essential to have an advantage in this evolution. Building off the initial evaluation, you can track improvements, assess your strategies’ effectiveness, and make necessary adjustments. A valuation at this stage will help assess the financial impact of various strategies and help you assess whether these efforts are increasing the business’ value.
What does the ultimate goal for your business look like? Are you aiming to transfer ownership, merge with another company, or pursue another strategic objective? At Cummings Keegan, we want to set you up for success, and to do that a business valuation is essential for navigating these milestones effectively. It provides a clear assessment of your business’s worth, which is crucial for attracting investors and securing funding. It also enables you to negotiate fair terms and set realistic expectations about the value of your business. A thorough valuation helps you plan and execute your strategy with confidence, ultimately providing a happy ending to your company’s story.
Reasons for a Business Valuation
Understanding the full value of your business is useful in a number of scenarios. Ways we help companies include:
Valuations Consulting to Serial Entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurs who serially build a business, sell it, and invest in a new business need to consider the impact taxes will have on valuation. Use our valuation consulting services to identify short-term tax-saving strategies that could improve long-term valuation for your investments.
Estate & Gift Tax Planning
Valuations are required for federal estate and gift tax purposes. Additionally, knowing what the business is worth makes estate and gift tax planning easier and more aligned with your planning goals. This is particularly relevant when the business makes up the majority of the family’s net worth.
Prospective Sale & Succession Planning
A valuation report is crucial when considering a sale or exit strategy. It identifies the key areas driving the value of your business and justifies your asking price. Request a business valuation well ahead of a sale to set the stage for succession planning and maximize the value of the business when the time comes.
Strategic Planning & Financing
Use your valuation to identify key value drivers and inform strategic decision-making. If you’re looking to secure financing, a valuation shows lenders and investors your creditworthiness and ability to generate cash flow. The SBA also requires a valuation when financing a business acquisition.
Buy/Sell Agreements
Valuations are often required when drafting or updating buy-sell agreements between business partners or shareholders. They can facilitate the onboarding of new owners and expedite stock redemption for exiting owners.
Initial Public Offerings & ESOPs
A corporation’s stock must be valued to set the initial offering price. When establishing or maintaining an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP), shares held by the ESOP must be valued annually.
Mergers or Acquisitions
Valuations are essential for both buyers and sellers when negotiating the terms of a merger or acquisition. If the merger is through the exchange of stock, both companies must be valued to establish a fair exchange.
Why Cummings Keegan?
We’re a mid-market firm that understands the unique challenges that privately-owned businesses and family businesses face. Our business valuation experts listen to your needs and tailor their reporting accordingly. We consider the purpose of your valuation and provide the data you need to make sound, long-term decisions.
With Cummings Keegan’s Business Valuation Services You Get:
- Accurate and objective advice on the value of your business that goes beyond the financial numbers to include the story of ownership, growth trends, future potential, and unique characteristics.
- Value enhancement ideas to maximize the value of your business.
- Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) with the Accredited in Business Valuation (ABV) credential.
- Expertise in analyzing financial information and industry trends.
- Over 60 years of experience providing honest valuations to owner-managed and family-owned businesses.
- Valuation services tailored to your specific needs and goals, backed by a team of diverse experts. Consulting around the value of your business and how to enhance it. Calculations engagements to assist in estate and gift planning. Valuation engagements for transactions and tax filing needs.
Industry Expertise
We specialize in mid-market, privately-held or family-owned businesses but that doesn’t limit our capabilities. Our CPAs follow industry trends and are experienced in business valuations for:
- Professional services
- Retail and trade
- Real estate
- Finance, insurance, and trusts
- Construction
- Manufacturing and Information technology
- Restaurant and hospitality
- Transportation and warehouse
- Agriculture
Holistic Accounting and Advisory Services
Using a firm like ours gives you direct access to partners in all areas of accounting. If you’re performing a valuation for tax purposes, you have access to tax experts. If your valuation is for exit planning, you can consult with experts in business sales and succession planning. Our valuations go beyond a dollar value to equip you with the comprehensive information you need to make key decisions around your business.
65 Years of Experience
We’ve built our resume on a strong foundation of experience. In 65 years we’ve seen plenty of changes in the regulatory and financial sectors and we know how to put that knowledge to use to give you a valuation that points to the future.
Getting an honest assessment on the value of your hard work begins with a simple hello. Fill out the form and a member of our team will be in touch. Whether you’re planning to sell, looking for guidance around that next big step, or facing legal challenges, you can trust Cummings Keegan to provide the business valuation resources you need to guide your business decisions.